BREAKING NEWS: Airbus A320 crashes in
French Alps
A plane carrying 148 people has crashed in the French Alps.
The Airbus A320 operated by Lufthansa’s Germanwings budget airline crashed in southern France earlier this morning, police and aviation officials said.
The plane was travelling from Barcelona, Spain, to Duesseldorf, Germany.
- The local La Provence newspaper said the Airbus A320 was carrying 142 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew, citing aviation officials.
The passenger plane had flight number 4U9525 and disappeared from radar at around 9.39am.
President Hollande said: ‘An aeroplane of the Germanwings company has just crashed near to Digne.
‘I want to express all my solidarity with the families of the victims. A counselling unit will be established to provide psychological support.
‘I will discuss the incident with (Germany’s) Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish King Philip VI, who is visiting us today. As we wait, our first feeling should be one of solidarity.’
He added: ‘I will have meetings with Chancellor Merkel because there were a number of German victims, and I will also contact the King of Spain.
‘This is an air tragedy and we will try to understand the reasons and causes of the accident, and obviously we will give the concerned authorities as well as the victims support.
‘This is a mourning period, because this is a tragedy that has happened on our territory. I intend to find out if there were other consequences of the accident … and we will find out more in the hours to come.’
In a statement on Twitter, Airbus said: ‘We are aware of the media reports. All efforts are now going towards assessing the situation. We will provide further information as soon as available.’
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: ‘My heart goes out to the family and friends of those people who appear to have lost their lives in this devastating air crash in the Alps.’
Germanwings said: ‘We have recently become aware of media reports speculating on an incident, though we still do not have any own confirmed information.
‘As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately.’
The plane came down in a remote region in the Alps at around 9.30am GMT.
This chart shows the climb and descent as the plane fell to earth.
Flight radars show the plane started to lose altitude shortly after passing between Marseille and Toulon.
